CFP: Interrogating Reproductive Loss: Feminist Writings on Abortion, Miscarriage, and Stillbirth

CALL FOR PAPERS Demeter Press is seeking submissions for an edited collection, entitled Interrogating Reproductive Loss: Feminist Writings on Abortion, Miscarriage, and Stillbirth  Co-Editors: Emily R.M. Lind & Angie Deveau Deadline for Abstracts: June 1, 2014 Deadline for Acceptances: July 1, 2014 Deadline for Completed Papers: November 15, 2014 Publication Date: Early 2016

Feminist theories of the body, reproduction, and the institution of motherhood typically focus on issues of rights, autonomy, and choice. These themes become increasingly complicated when applied to questions of reproductive loss. Interrogating Reproductive Loss: Feminist Writings on Abortion, Miscarriage, and Stillbirth seeks essays, poems, short stories, and artwork that imagine a feminist epistemology of loss. Whereas biomedical and feminist literature treat abortion, miscarriage, and stillbirth as differently conceptualized events, this collection explores the connections between these three categories.  How have feminist debates and activist strategies around reproductive choice invigorated the cultural conversation about miscarriage, and stillbirth? How can we imagine more nuanced engagements with the spectrum of experiences that are at stake when a pregnancy ends? And how can we effectively create a space where women and trans people are given the opportunities to "identify and 'own'" (Cosgrove 2004) the ways that loss makes meaning for those who grieve and/or celebrate the end of pregnancy? Submissions from researchers, parents, healthcare experts, community workers, artists, and activists are welcome. Chapters from a wide range of disciplines and cultural perspectives, both theoretical/scholarly and creative (e.g., stories, narrative, creative non-fiction, poetry, image-based), are highly encouraged and will be considered. Topics may also include (but are not limited to): Epistemologies of loss; policy directions for reproductive health; queering pregnancy loss; 'planned' pregnancies and ideological constructions of 'time'; feminist models of grief/remorse; expectations/impositions of grief; limitations of 'pro-choice' rhetoric; decolonizing reproductive 'freedom'; third and fourth wave engagements with reproductive loss; narratives of silence/silencing; reinvigorating feminist praxis in the face of reproductive loss; reproductive loss, ambivalence, and the contradictory politics of choice; health care service delivery from a feminist perspective; gaps in public health care service delivery and assessment tools; discrimination in health care; reproductive loss and the social construction of 'unfit' bodies; reproductive loss in the digital age; maternal activism in relation to fertility and reproductive loss; feminist critiques and analyses of post abortion stress syndrome; sudden infant death syndrome; postpartum depression following reproductive loss; memorializing reproductive loss and bereavement; experiences of miscarriage, preterm labour resulting in loss, stillbirth, and early- and late-term abortions; the paid and unpaid work associated with reproductive loss; intersectional analyses/critiques of reproductive loss; reproductive loss and the potential for empowerment; surrogate loss; selective abortion and loss; reproductive loss and support or lack thereof; and infertility and involuntary childlessness.

Abstracts: 250-word description of the proposed paper, including a tentative title. Also, please include a 50-word biography noting citizenship, and your full contact information. Deadline for abstracts: June 1, 2014   Full Manuscripts: MLA style, between 15-18 pages, double-spaced (3750-4500 words). Shorter stories/narrative works, image-based and/or creative submissions are also welcome (500-2500 words). Final acceptance of the manuscript for inclusion in the collection rests upon the strength and fit of the completed full piece. Deadline for full manuscripts: November 15, 2014 The book is to have 50% Canadian content, so Canadian contributors are especially encouraged to submit.   Publication date early 2016. To Submit: Please direct all submissions and inquiries to Emily R.M. Lind at emilyruthmusgrovelind@gmail.com and Angie Deveau at angiedeveau@gmail.com   DEMETER PRESS 140 Holland St. West, P.O. Box 13022 Bradford, ON, L3Z 2Y5 (tel) 905-775-5215 http://www.demeterpress.orginfo@demeterpress.org

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